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Beagle as an Upland Gun Dog?


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So 2 years ago I put to rest my best bud; he was no gun dog being a Frenchie, but he was the most loyal, empathic, courageous, and loving, slobber-face I was ever blessed to have as a pard.

 

feel I am ready for another fur-bro now and I want an upland gun dog this time but I also want a Beagle.  Now Beags are renowned for being rabbit dogs but I'm asking if anyone here has had experience with a Beagle as an uplander.

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Depends on the type of birds you are hunting. Out west we hunt lots of desert quail and chukkars in pretty rough country. Probably not the best breed for this.. Eastern Bobwhites, some doves or pheasants, could be ok. Trouble is going to be the training. If you train the dog yourself....OK. Probably have trouble finding a professional trainer to take it on.

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Remember that every now and again a beagle will just simply take off and follow its nose over hill and dale, way out of gun range.  Dad and I raised beagles for a few years in high school.  Train them and keep on training them and they'll do all right.

 

They are great for chasing things down and treeing them.  Things like badgers, bobcat, cougars, raccoons, and the like.  A team of three or four beagles properly trained and working as a team will even work a bear down.

 

Follow the sound of the bugle and you'll alway know where your dog is.

 

And when God wanted a pattern for softness he created the inside of a beagle's ears.

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6 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

And when God wanted a pattern for softness he created the inside of a beagle's ears.

Amen, Forty!  You’re making me miss Smokey and Gizmo.

 

Tammy was my uncle’s beagle and the smartest ever, but Smoke and Giz were our love bugs. 

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Best all around bird and rabbit dog I ever hunted over was a beagle named JAM. Damn, I miss that dog.

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21 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

First dog was a French Poodle?  They were bred to be waterfowl dogs. The weird trims that we laugh at were intended to keep their joints warm in the water, the cut around the body is so the wet hair does not bog them down.

"Frenchie" is the nom de milliniel for a French Bulldog.....

 

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Hunted grouse and rabbit with a beagle dog as a boy.

This particular Beagle stayed close unless I pointed and said "Git 'im," then he'd shoot straight out until he realized he wasn't near me and he'd double back full speed.

It is truly amazing how many grouse I did not harvest in those years, in spite of pounding my shoulder black and blue with that single barrel JC Higgins full choke, stuffed with toilet paper loads.
(We reused hulls until the crimp failed, then stuffed toilet paper over the shot and white-glued it in place ... we ran single barrel shotguns or Dad's double gun, so even a horrible looking reload functioned! Uncle Neil called 'em toilet paper loads and the name stuck!)

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We had a beagle when I was a kid. If he got out, we would ride around in the car and honk to have him come back. If he was at the park (a big one), we often went back the next day. Eyes swollen from pollen, often wet and running like the devil after the car, ears flapping. 

I had a Shetland Sheepdog I used for a rabbit dog as a teenager using a .22. Not really a hunter, but he could scare them up. If I cleaned them, Mom would cook them. A fair trade.

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My Grand-dad was living in Michigan, about fifty years ago.  Told me on the phone one night that he'd gotten himself a new hunting dog - a Beagle!

 

Next time I talked to him I asked how his dog was working out.

 

"I got rid of that worthless s**-**-*-****h!" he snarled.  "I was lucky to find some fool to take 'im or I woulda shot 'im!"

 

"What?  He wouldn't hunt?"

 

"Oh, he hunted, alrighty!  Every time I took him out I had my gun and sent him out to find a rabbit and chase it back to me so I could shoot it!  Well... that worthless SOB wouldn't listen to me!  He'd tear out, barkin' and a-bayin'... and in a short bit I'd hear 'im comin' back -  but every time... EVERY TIME... he'd chase a $&%^ DEER back to me!  I didn't want no deer... I wanted RABBITS!!" 

 

I truly loved that dear old man, but sometimes I just couldn't understand how his thinker worked.  :rolleyes:

 

 

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